Stop Interfloor Noise... Construction Industry's 'Silent Outcry'

Forming a TF and Focusing on Technical Capabilities

Example image of cushioning material applied using Lotte Chemical EPP material

As the spread of COVID-19 has increased the time spent indoors and disputes over noise between floors have risen, construction companies are focusing their technical capabilities on achieving ‘zero noise between floors’ this year.

Floor impact noise, which causes noise between floors, is commonly divided into two types. ‘Light impact noise’ occurs when hard and light objects such as spoons or plastic fall, while ‘heavy impact noise’ is caused by heavy and large impacts such as heels, basketballs, or hammers. Older houses tend to be more vulnerable to noise between floors because their floor thickness is thinner than that of newly built apartments. Securing technology to reduce noise between floors is expected to be a competitive advantage in the remodeling market, which is anticipated to grow in the future.

According to the industry on the 22nd, Lotte Construction has begun developing a new cushioning material effective in reducing both light and heavy impact noise. The cushioning material, jointly developed by Lotte Construction, Lotte Chemical, and EPS Korea, will primarily use EPP (expanded polypropylene), an eco-friendly material produced by Lotte Chemical. EPP material is known to be particularly effective in reducing light impact noise compared to EPS material, which has been the main material for floor cushioning.

Daewoo E&C Smart Triple Sound Insulation Structure System

Daewoo Construction has developed a ‘smart triple floor structure’ that can drastically reduce noise between floors and filed a patent application last month. The smart triple floor structure consists of △load-bearing reinforced concrete △high-elasticity cushioning material △reinforced mortar. The thickness of the materials is increased and performance enhanced compared to existing apartment floor structures.

Hyundai Construction has applied its noise reduction technology ‘H Silent Home’ starting this year, and DL E&C (formerly Daelim Industrial) developed a triple-layer floor structure that can block noise between floors last year and filed a patent application.

Separate specialized task forces (TF) dedicated to reducing noise between floors have also become common. Lotte Construction established a noise and vibration solution team composed of 13 experts with master’s and doctoral degrees in February to achieve zero noise between floors. Earlier, Samsung C&T established a noise between floors research institute through an organizational restructuring in December last year.

Posco Construction also established a ‘Noise Between Floors Resolution TF’ on the 18th, consisting of 16 experts with master’s and doctoral degrees. A Posco Construction official said, "In the case of remodeling older houses, the floor thickness is thinner than new buildings, making them vulnerable to noise between floors, and it is difficult to use thick noise reduction materials due to height restrictions. Through TF activities, we plan to develop technology to overcome this."

According to the Korea Environment Corporation’s Neighbor Center, complaints related to noise between floors reached 42,250 last year when COVID-19 spread in earnest, an increase of 61% compared to 26,257 in 2019.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.